Decisions, Decisions

Modern rewards repetition. Given that Modern has a million viable decks, with no tier one strategy composing more than 9% of the metagame,* it’s near impossible to pick a deck tuned to beat a majority of the field. I’ve always enjoyed this aspect of the format as it supposes that any reasonable deck has a chance to take down a tournament. Pilot skill, and familiarity with other decks in the format, is usually more important than picking the “right” deck.

Not many people would argue that Merfolk is the strongest deck in Modern. It’s not by most metrics, but the deck recently won GP Los Angeles because Simon Slutsky is a great Merfolk player. Matchups are important, but Slutsky was able to best Affinity in the finals which is a horrific matchup. Slutsky also took down the tournament with hideous non-matching white bordered basics, which I imagine is also a testament to his playskill.

I’ve talked about repetition before. The reason I bring it up here is because I can’t decide on a deck and have done an abysmal job of playing a single deck for more than a two week span. My problem is that there isn’t a deck I love playing right now, that I want to dedicate my time to learning. Back in the Bloom Titan days, I had a deck that was powerful, skill intensive, and a blast to play but then Wizards had to go and swing the banhammer down on Summer Bloom. A totally fair card in my opinion. Regardless, since then I’ve built upwards of seven decks, but none of them feel quite right. Here are my options and opinions, I’m hoping to talk myself into something by the end of this.

Pros: I love the fact that Ad Nauseam is a consistent combo deck, filled to the gills with deck manipulation (SCRY LANDS!), that can go off at instant speed. Unlike Storm, KCI, or Instant Reanimator, once you’re going off it’s basically impossible to fizzle. Casting Angel’s Grace plus Ad Nauseam gives you access to your entire deck, two win conditions (one that works even if an opponent has infinite life or a Leyline of Sanctity), and three free counterspells to back them up. Not only is the combo super sweet, but given that the deck has four Angel’s Grace and four Phyrexian Unlife it has game against damage-based aggro decks that are as fast, or faster, than Ad Nauseam. Casting Phyrexian Unlife against burn just feels good to me.

Cons: Aside from the fact that the deck is difficult to play optimally and that I have never optimally sideboarded a game in my life, the deck has trouble with targeted discard and can basically never beat Infect. I know I said that knowing the deck is more important than having a positive win percentage against the field, but it feels really bad to sit across from Infect and know, in your brain’s heart, that the game is about to shift into shittyness. Against Jund, you can bring in Leyline of Sanctity but I feel like I was spoiled by Bloom Titan which could just out value Jund by chaining together Primeval Titans and Thragtusks.

Pros: Every time I pick up Elves, I’m impressed at how good it is. Karstinen’s list is both explosive and consistent with a utility toolbox of creatures to get off of Chord/Collected Company. The deck matches up reasonably well with much of the format and can do a little grinding with the midrange/control decks thanks to Lead the Stampede.

Cons: I know this is a cop-out but I own zero Horizon Canopy, don’t want to buy them, and don’t have a close friend to borrow from. I know I could play the straight GB version of the deck, or cut some number of Horizon Canopy but, well, I don’t want to. I have no problem playing a tier two deck, but I always want to play the best version of whatever deck I’m playing. I could play the combo version of the deck, with Beck and Cloudstone Curio, but I’m a bit skeptical of that deck and don’t want to play a tournament where I have to tap and untap Nettle Sentinel hundreds of times.

Pros: I would get to play Kalitas in two formats. While I have shied away from playing attrition-based Magic in Modern, I do have to say that something about Grixis appeals to me. I like the value based creatures, the removal suite, and the fact that you can play counter magic and not have the awkward tension between Path to Exile and Mana Leak. Post board you have even more removal and countermagic with a sweet one-of Goblin Dark-Dwellers for all the value which I also enjoy.

Cons: Majors, who has played his fair share of Grixis, wrote an article after this 16th place finish called “The Issues with Grixis Control” where he talks about some of the big pictures issues the deck faces. The most important thing I got from Majors is this, “You aren’t going to get any free wins, the games are going to be hard, and the majority of the time you’ll be forced to give up playing as the control deck to start sneaking in points with Creeping Tar-Pit and deploying “Ambush Viper” Snapcaster Mages to pressure opponents.”

Pros: Yeah, look, I know these decks are way different. I’m grouping them together here because I have an irrational love for gaining life and Primeval Titan. I’ve always felt that Soul Sisters was an underrated deck and one with game against a significant portion of the meta. As for this RG Valakut deck, I’m not sure what to expect, this deck did well at a tournament a month ago, and I haven’t seen much of it at all on the dailies ever since. I’d like jam some games with it, but it’s hard to dedicate time to it when I have four other decks I’m considering. Someone just tell me it’s good or bad.

Five decks, that’s where I am right now. I’m hoping I can decide one way or another in the next few weeks before Modern PPTQ Season, otherwise I think it’s going to be a rough summer.

*MTGtop8.com looking at data from the previous two months

In terms of Magic, Shawn Massak is a Modern enthusiast, with a penchant for tier two decks, counterspells, and pre Eighth Edition frames. In terms of life, Shawn lives in Brighton, MA where he works as an employment coordinator for people with disabilities, plays guitar in an indie-pop band, and spends his free time reading comics, complaining about pro-wrestling, and wishing his apartment allowed dogs as pets.